Happy Doom © 2023 Billy Roisz

20 films from a total of 18 production countries are celebrating their premieres at the 2025 Berlinale Shorts, of which 15 are world premieres. The programme combines classic storytelling with surreal works, features various styles of animation and presents experimental documentary forms.

The films show human beings and the circumstances in which they live. They examine the impact of the past on the present (Rückblickend Betrachtet (In Retrospect); Koki, Ciao), deal with collective trauma and the experience of war (After Colossus; Prekid vatre (Ceasefire)), adopt archives (Lloyd Wong, Unfinished) and reflect on the digital automation of everyday life, from self-driving cars to electronic monitoring (Their Eyes; Dar band (Citizen-Inmate)).

They portray mothers both loving and controlling (Mother’s Child; Sammi, Who Can Detach His Body Parts; Ke wai huo dong (Extracurricular Activity)), young women going through crises (Because of (U)); Élő kövek (Living Stones)) and girls forced to cope with the adult world (Children’s Day; Casa chica). Their protagonists are filled with longing (Through Your Eyes; Futsu no seikatsu (Ordinary Life)), confront pain (Anba dlo) and anger (Comment ça va? (How Are You?)), find their way (Kámen Osudu (Stone of Destiny)), fall in love (Casi septiembre (Close to September)) and care for each other.

“This edition is rich in portraits of varying kinds, both in the documentary works and in the fiction and animated films. We encounter individuals who will stay with us for a long time,” says Anna Henckel-Donnersmarck, head of Berlinale Shorts.

To celebrate the festival’s 75th anniversary, Berlinale Shorts is also screening six gems from the festival archive. In the short film compilation “You and I Are Not Alone - Berlinale Shorts Revisited”, the following films and filmmakers can be (re)discovered: experimental filmmaker and musician Billy Roisz has already participated in Berlinale Shorts four times and will make the screen vibrate once again with Happy Doom. Akihito Izuhara’s wonderful mythical creatures have enchanted audiences the same number of times, including with the hand-drawn animated film Vita Lakamaya. In the black-and-white documentary Three Stones for Jean Genet, Frieder Schlaich accompanies Patti Smith to Tangier to visit Jean Genet’s grave. Justine Triet and Sandra Hüller – director and leading actor of Anatomy of a Fall – met at the Berlinale in 2012 when Triet presented her short film Vilaine fille mauvais garçon (Two Ships) and Hüller was a member of the Berlinale Shorts jury. In 2011, brothers Park Chan-wook and Park Chan-kyong, also known as PARKing CHANce, won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film with their surreal story Paranmanjang (Night Fishing). In 2015, this award went to Tant qu’il nous reste des fusils à pompe (As long as shotguns remain), the first collaboration between Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel.

The directing duo is also returning to the competition programme of Berlinale Shorts this year with their most recent film, Comment ça va? (How Are You?) – marking their fifth time at the Berlinale.

The Berlinale Shorts blog will feature interviews with the filmmakers and texts about their films.

The films of Berlinale Shorts 2025